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@djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place

Post #3288421

2026-06-11 09:05 UTC

Of course programming is art, ask any programmer the range of emotions they felt looking at someone else’s code that one time.

Replies (27)

  • @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place that's actually the most convincing argument I've heard in a while

    Open ##3514041

  • @SRAZKVT@tech.lgbt 2026-06-11 09:30

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place there's even code that produces both utter disgust and anger, as well as admiration there isn't a lot, but it's out there

    Open ##3514050

  • @wildeng@livellosegreto.it 2026-06-11 09:58

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place and what about that “wtf” feeling looking at what you think is someone else’s code but in reality is your really old one? Aren’t these valuable emotions?

    Open ##3514054

  • @khleedril@cyberplace.social 2026-06-11 10:00

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place All programming was written by John Constable in a particularly dark mood.

    Open ##3514058

  • @patterfloof@meow.social 2026-06-11 10:14

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place "what do you mean my code has to pass a linter?"

    Open ##3514059

  • @melindrea@beige.party 2026-06-11 10:29

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place Especially the ending one of "which complete idiot did ... oh, right. That'd be me"? <.<

    Open ##3514068

  • @erisceleste@tech.lgbt 2026-06-11 10:30

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place the trick is coding with intent to provoke emotion in the reader (personally all my code is intended to evoke a fight or flight response)

    Open ##3514070

  • @labria@social.yeschenko.com 2026-06-11 11:22

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place or when they watch https://youtu.be/OyfBQmvr2Hc?si=jJNCfWBQomZU93Vk

    Open ##3514072

  • @NatureMC@mastodon.online 2026-06-11 11:23

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place Interesting definition of art! I can look at kinds of art feeling nothing (I'm an artist). When I once worked in a hotel cleaning toilets, I was filled with so many very strong emotions. Did I see art there? 😎 Eventually, I cut code into pieces, and formed it into beads for a programmer's necklace. Was the cut code still art?

    Open ##3514073

  • @chessert@mastodon.online 2026-06-11 12:58

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place Sometimes admiration, sometimes incredulity, sometimes horror, and often hilarity.

    Open ##3514074

  • @rhelune@todon.eu 2026-06-11 13:07

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place "Art should comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable!"

    Open ##3514075

  • @bytebro@mastodonapp.uk 2026-06-11 14:02

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place Oh yes! If it's an old code-base I'm familiar with, I'd look at the changelog and be "oh god, it's from *that* person. This will not go well"

    Open ##3514076

  • @keirFox@tiggi.es 2026-06-11 14:22

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place git blame ^e1fb2d7 (Jackson Pollock 2026-02-03 06:30:25 -0300

    Open ##3514077

  • @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place Its usually these emotions right here

    Open ##3514081

  • @SamKurth@mstdn.social 2026-06-11 16:29

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place shared im my standup this morning.

    Open ##3514083

  • @jotbe@chaos.social 2026-06-11 16:38

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place *Looking at some code* "What might be the artist's intention with this block of code? What is the deeper meaning of it? It certainly has some kind of beauty ..." 😁

    Open ##3514085

  • @eldaking@weirder.earth 2026-06-11 16:46

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place I have seen code that was baroque, code that was abstract, and lots of dadaist code. And something I am pretty sure was an urinal taken from somewhere and put in a dockerfile.

    Open ##3514086

  • @coldfish@sfba.social 2026-06-11 16:50

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place I wonder if an artist cringes at his work from 10yrs ago as much as I do when I look at code I wrote 10yrs ago.

    Open ##3514087

  • @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place WTF was I thinking when I wrote this code? Why didn't I comment the code better? It's been a long time now since this happened to me. Like over a week. #Coding

    Open ##3514089

  • @rocky1138@dosgame.club 2026-06-11 17:32

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place Reading the JRISC that John Carmack wrote for the Atari Jaguar Doom port is 🧑‍🍳💋

    Open ##3514090

  • @0x2ba22e11@unstable.systems 2026-06-11 19:04

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place @miawgogo@fedi.miawgogo.me this does suggest that most programming is the same genre of art that Rickrolling is. 😁❤️

    Open ##3514091

  • @darkrat@chaosfurs.social 2026-06-11 20:02

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place Can confirm. I've literally gone through all Kübler-Ross stages while looking at codebases

    Open ##3514092

  • @grob@mstdn.social 2026-06-11 20:03

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place checks out. Though range is a strong word. me in front of a painting: "I don't get it" me in front of code: "I don't get it"

    Open ##3514093

  • @quinn@social.circl.lu 2026-06-11 23:18

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place I enjoyed showing this to my partner and watching the light go out of his eyes

    Open ##3514094

  • @joroingo@mstdn.social 2026-06-12 18:03

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place From the love at first sight feeling of finding someone clearly documenting their code or starting their arrays at 0 to the violent hatred of seeing someone create a manual array of prime numbers for reasons unknown to humankind

    Open ##3514095

  • @andrewrock@bne.social 2026-06-14 08:21

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place @pharsicle@aus.social Usually disgust.

    Open ##3514096

  • @hemisputnik@woof.tech 2026-06-24 13:32

    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place reading uncommented code is just interpretation

    Open ##3514097